Yoga and viveka[The elixir of life]

  

                             On the occasion of Yoga day , I would like to add my tribute to Yoga.

                   

                                  The feeling when one finishes morning yoga session is very blissful. Yogis are ready to take the day. An hour of concentration on our body and breath develops control. Energy fills you and day by day you see the change in you. It makes you feel exalted. That is why yoga practitioner rave over it to the point of madness. They feel like standing on top of the roof and shout ,''here is the elixir of life ,pleas partake in it.

                                It improves our posture which is the main reason for most of our problems. When the anatomy is not in its right position, it is constantly pressed like  one with drooping  shoulders or sits hunched.

                                   

                                  With yoga correction in posture starts and with it one starts breathing better. Learns to walk, stand sit tall. One feels healthier and the muscles get stretched. With this comes attitudinal change.

With asanas and pranayama one becomes focused in body and mind. This is Union[Yoga].this leads to calmness.

                                     Agitating thoughts or activity makes one restless creating tension in every part of the body and mind leading to faster breathing.

The pressure of work, commuting, balancing family and work and earning leads to stress. Stress's physical manifestation is inflexible muscles in legs, neck, back, jaw or some other area. One may not even notice why it happens. This further leads to poor sleep, anxiety, reacting and pessimism.

If stress persists for long, it leads to High blood pressure, cardiac problem, migraine headache, back pain etc. With yoga comes concentration. Concentrating on each part of the body while doing asana or pranayama is difficult in the beginning but it becomes part of you with time and one gets self-awareness of each part of the body.

                                           What are the obstacles to yoga practice?  Patanjali's  Yoga sutra give nine of them. Illness, dullness, doubts, carelessness, fatigue, distraction, wrong perception , instability and

  lack of conviction.

  How does one overcome these?

        By at least doing simple asanas, questioning it's basics, changing habits, following relaxation techniques like Shavasana, purposefully avoiding distraction, not hopping from one alternative medicine to other but following with determination etc.

               The results are bagful. By keeping to yoga regime every day, one will view challenge of life peacefully. For example one will notice that in an argument you take a deep breath and the stress evaporates.

It is a secular science of health, wellness and mental and physical discipline. It is not a religion and does not conflict with one's attitude. Reaction to situation and people change and one does things by being more aware. Simple things like how one walks and bends changes.

                Your relationship with others many times causes stress. By counting ten and taking a deep breath, negative reactions are replaced . We are able to distinguish between stress that really matters and one that can be shed.

                    A yogi wants to avoid ager. The same energy he is able to utilize for a better cause. A person’s senses sharpens; taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing all of them.

  I have listed some changes.-

                       1. One starts avoiding food that causes problem.

                       2.  Ones healing by touch ability improve. One can become a good Rekhi person.

                       3.  Any visual that causes agitation, one starts avoiding.

                       4. We avoid strong perfumes.

                       5. We listen to music more..

                            One gets Viveka [enlightenment ]  ,stress melts away.